Rifle Scopes Remington 700 scope issue.

[pop-gunner]

Hopefully someone here can help.
I picked up a Remington 700 last week. Hart 22in barrel in a H&S Precision stock. Burris Signature 6x24x44.
The gun was being built by a gentleman who passed away before he could finish it so he never shot it. I had the chamber reamed and took it to shoot today for the first time. The rings that were on it were on it were obviously hand made and sat the scope inches above the barrel. I replaced the mounts with Leupold 2pc and the rings with Leupold High rings. The scope sits about an eight of an inch over the barrel now.
168gr Federal Match ammo.
I can get well under 1 MOA groups but 8 inches low. I have adjusted the scope elevation up as far up as it will go and it brought the groups up but it's still way low.
I'm kinda new at this bolt action game. Do I need some other kind of mount?
All advice/suggestions are much appreciated.

David

 

[Rob01]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

You have to use alot of windage to zero the scope? Those scopes don't have alot of internal travel with their 1" tubes and having to use windage to zero can really kill your elevation. If you used a 20 MOA base you might be able to get a 100 yard zero but I am not sure how much elevation it would leave you.

Set up like it is now, how much down elevation do you have?

 

[pop-gunner]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

Rob01,
Windage seems just fine...I can touch 3 shots at 100 yards. Problem is they are 8 inches low and I'm out of elevation adjustment.

Thanks
David

 

[Jimmy2Times]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

pop-gunner, it would be helpful if you posted a pic of your current rifle/scope/base/mount setup. Something doesn't sound right. The scope might be messed up too, a simple box test could verify that though.

 

[Gruff]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

The Burris Sig 6-24x only has about 25 minutes of elevation adjustment, IIRC. You'll need to get a base/ring setup that has about 20 minutes of elevation built in.

 

[Swamper]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

Sounds like you need to try another set of bases, or shim the front base.

IF you really want to zero the scope at 100yds.
Why zero the scope at 100yds if you are going to shoot longrange?

Seems like all your scope's vertical movement is usable for elevation; that is a good thing!

If you can't raise point of bullet impact higher than 8" low at 100yds, you have about a 350yd zero. If you have 25 or 50 moa of movement remaining, your rifle scope combination should be good to about 600/800yds which is about the limit of the .308 anyway.

Does your scope have a DUPLEX reticle? Try using the top edge of the bottom post at 100 yds. Effectively that will raise your bullet impact closer to a zero at 100 yds.

A canted base will not help and will only aggrivate the problem.

If you like the Burris scope, just learn to shoot it.
If you want to have a scope that you can zero at 100yds and then have tons of elevation movement, (the turret moves the reticle down to increase the angle of aim/inclination on the barrel), you will have your work cut out for you.

Sounds to me like you have a very usable longrange rifle. Not much windage adjustment until you dial down closer to tube-center, as was mentioned; but wind isn't that big a factor for the .308 at 350yds unless blowing a gale. You will have a few moa r/l to adjust with anyway.

Hard to imagine why if your Leupold bases are correctly matched that your scope is zeroing so far below typical alignment. Who knows, maybe to use his "custom rings" the guy had the front of the receiver relieved or lowered? Seems unlikely, but...

Most often, guys gripe about not having enough elevation travel; that their scopes only have 10 or 15 moa of movement remaining when zeroed at 100/200 yds. That's why they go with a canted base to have full vertical movement used for elevation (distance).

Maybe you want a new sighting system completely, but you need to solve the mystery of why your front base is not in proper plane alignment with the rear base. Leupold does make a longrange STD base, but only in one-piece design, to my knowledge. Maybe you have a 2 pc set of Mk4 bases with 20moa cant? It is a real concern. Fix that situation and the scope should be able to zero at 100 or even 50 yds.

Good luck!

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Swamper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
If you can't raise point of bullet impact higher than 8" low at 100yds, you have about a 350yd zero. If you have 25 or 50 moa of movement remaining, your rifle scope combination should be good to about 600/800yds which is about the limit of the .308 anyway.
</div></div>

Me thinks you have your comeups backwards.

If he has no more UP on the elevation then there is no way he is going to hit anything but dirt at 350. If he was shooting 8" HIGH at 100 then he would be OK.

Check to see if somehow the base is installed backwards. Was it handmade like the rings? If it's not a "known good" base, then I would just ditch it and buy a Badger or Seekins 20MOA rail.

 

[kombar]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Swamper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Sounds like you need to try another set of bases, or shim the front base.
</div></div>

Again, that's backwards. Shimming the front base would make his problem even worse.

If you wanted to shim the rear base, a shim of approximately .033" should give you about 15 MOA up. If you wanted to try for your scopes maximum elevation range of 22 MOA, a shim of approximately .041" should get you close to maximum. This is assuming that your scope is centered for windage and it's still 8 MOA low.


Also, are the Leupold 2 piece bases you bought windage adjustable? Like Rob said, if you have to use a lot of windage to zero the scope, as in the erector tube isn't centered in the scope body, you will lose some elevation in the scope. Properly centering the scope for windage before mounting, and then adjusting your base for a rough zero at the range is the best way to do it.

See how much right/left adjustment you have remaining (you'll probably need to dial down about 10 MOA if you're at the top of your adjustment range). Don't just count clicks, actually verify that the reticle is moving by looking through the scope. If you do have an equal amount of travel left and right, then you'll either need to shim the rear base, or buy a 20 MOA base. If you don't, then the scope body needs to be aligned properly before you'll know if it's actually out of elevation adjustment or not.

 

[adam518]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

Hi guys. This is my first post, so forgive me for being a bit of a noob. I have lurked around here for a long while and have relied on everyone's great advice.

Double check my math on this, but it sounds like he has a 20 moa base installed backwards.

G Russ said that the scope in question only has 25 minutes of elevation adjustment. I assume that only leaves 12.5 up and 12.5 down. At 100 yards, the trajectory would be pretty flat. If the base is backwards, the most he can ajdust down would still leave 7.5 minutes above horizontal. At 1.04" per minute @ 100 yards, that would leave him shooting 7.8" low.

 

[kombar]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

That sounds right, but it'd be pretty hard to install a base backwards, since the hole spacing is different on the front and rear bridge. Just another thing to check though.

 

[HitEmHard]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

Rings could be backwards, they're different heights front and back on the Leupold adjustable models. I'd put a one piece base on it, and some standard picatinny rings, never have liked the 2-piece/adjustable ring idea...

D

 

[pop-gunner]

Re: Remington 700 scope issue.

Leupold 2pc bases and high rings. The rear base is windage adjustable and can only be installed in 1 direction and the front is dovetail. The front base is reversible but trying both positions I have no change in the height of the front ring. I have ordered Burris Signature rings with offset inserts to try and raise the rear of the scope without danger of not keeping the scope straight in the rings. Does anyone have any experience with these rings and does anyone know if they will fit in the described Leupold bases? Yes the Burris front in a dovetail fit and the rear in windage adjustable.
Thanks so much for the help with this.

David